Windows 7 Audio Crackling Problem

[ScienceOfThePS3]

Here are my specs:

Dell Inspiron B130 laptop
Intel 915 Express Chipset Family grpahics
SigmaTel HD Audio
Intel PROSet/Wireless 2915AGB wireless card

This seems to affect all audio from 7, including system sounds. I used to have the same exact problem in Vista but I used a driver fix that corrected the problem in Vista but doesn't work in 7. I also tried disabling audio enhancements as well as changing my wifi card to G mode. I'm using Build 6801 with the latest drivers and updates. Does anyone else seem to have audio problems in 7? Does anyone know of any fixes for this type of problem?

This is actaully the only problem that is preventing me from switching over to 7 as my main OS. (Reason being because Vista sucks.)

 

[srsozzu]

Finally, I tried the absolute highest sample rate (one of the Studio quality rates) and the crackling went away.

So for me, it was a matter of getting the Vista Audigy drivers, possibly disabling audio enhancements, and setting the max sample rate for the audio.

I hope this helps at least one other person out there.

Sorry to dredge up a dead thread, but I just spent 5 hours today trying to sort out why Hulu was suddenly skipping/lagging in the audio/video after my Windows 7 install. I have the new Windows 7 Sound Blaster drivers, and this happened anyways. I did what the above post says (put the sample rate up to the highest studio quality) and now there is no lagging.

I have no idea why this is the case (I only got serious lag in live-stream sites like Hulu, and minor lag in iTunes) or how this works, but the problem is fixed now. I can still hear tiny skipping every so often, but it's tolerable.

I have not seen this solution anywhere else, so I want to make sure people try this as well. Most people had issues with Audiodg.exe, or with driver compatibility, and this seems to be something else.

 

[DarrylGittins]

This isn't a driver problem (for me), because I have the same cracking sound using the onboard sound card AND using different USB sound cards.

The problem occurs in any music player (in Windows Media Player, or Winamp).

The sound crackles and stutters when the CPU is busy. That is, when I open a Web page, or start a program, I hear pops and garbled sound if I’m playing music.

Here's what I've tried:

Installed the latest drivers.
Tried using 2 different external sound cards.
Installed the Codec lite pack .
Disabled speaker effects (enhancements).
Reset the BIOS to the factory default settings.
Flashed the system BIOS

A reboot fixes the problem, but then it eventually comes back.

I hate this because I love listening to music while I work.

Thanks LOADS for any suggestions!!




Specs:

Video: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
Sound: NVIDIA (Relatek) High Definition Audio
Processor Intel Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33GHz
Browser MSIE 8.0
System OS Windows 7 Enterprise x64
Mobo P5QL PRO ASUSTeK Computer INC Version Rev 1.xx
Main Board BIOS American Megatrends Inc. BIOS Date: 03/12/09 10:04:29 Ver: 08.00.14 A_M_I_ - 3000912 20090312
Processor Clock Speed 2330 Mhz
Graphics Description NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
Memory Configuration 2048+2048+2048+2048;DIMM DDR Synchronous
DVD-RAM Model HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS50
Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller

 

[electromikey]

Re: Found a fix for my crackling problem

Worked perfectly for me!!! Thank you so much, i thought i'd have to revert to XP !

I did exactly as you said, disabled all audio enhancements and then changed it from studio quality to CD/DVD (both worked)

 

[shreen2008]

Re: Can you follow instruction?

Here is instruction for the hopeless and/or simple and/or lazy:

Go to the Creative forums
Go to the Soundblaster forum
Look for threads authored by the great Daniel_K
Download the appropriate Win7 driver for your card.
All your X-Fi and Audigy problems will be gone if you can follow the simple install instructions.

Plz provide the proper links. I couldn't find what you are saying!

 

[Eco Driver]

After weeks of googling and triyng lots of fixes I finnally have the solution to this. Mi English is not perfect but I will try to be clear:

1. This problem of sound crackling is related to the Network Adapter Driver . Just disable your Network Adapter and see how the problem dissapears.!!

2.Then, the problem is related to the Drivers of your network Adapter. It seems to be related to an update released by Realtek on june of 2010. Revert the Controler of your Network Adapter to the previous Driver (the one released on 2008 or before).....

3. To do that, go to Device Manager/ Network Adapters and right click your Network Adapter then Properties/Controler and "revert to previous Controller" (or something like that. My W7 is on Spanish so I don´t know the exact text on that button)

4.That´s all.

This solution worked perfect on two PC´s I have both with W7.

 

[Trouble]

Eco Driver:
Hello and welcome to the forum. Thanks very much for posting the solution that worked for you. For the purposes of clarifying your information would you mind following up with what type of sound card you were having the problem with?
Anyhow, don't worry about the language issue, your post was very clear and easily understood. Thanks for joining the forums and we hope to continue to see you around.

 

[MLHawthorn]

Hi all. I had the same problem with crackling audio, and I couldn't figure it out. I had done a clean install, and it went all crackly. By chance, I checked processes that were running at the time, and found a process for Intel Matrix Storage Technology running in the background. I uninstalled Intel Matrix Storage Technology, installed the most recent version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology, and the problem disappeared. It may be a fluke, but I hope it helps someone.

 

[JeDi]

Okay, I found the solution on another forum, but since this forum came up in the search, I decided to post it here as well...

Yes, I had everything working, and finally got the best working driver from Creative. I am running a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy on this machine, and always heard a crackling or distortion during audio playback... That's when I found this solution...

1. Downloand this latency checker software here: Link Removed due to 404 Error
Then just run it... It will show you how much feedback devices on your system give off...
2. Open Device Manager through your Control Panel, and disable different devices... (Generic USB Hub was my issue).

My latency checker was all RED when I turned it on, and I tried the NIC card driver, which I can't really do without, but it didn't do much... Then, after almost giving up I noticed it said to try USB controllers... So, I tried the Generic USB Hub that I have connected to a USB PCI card in the back, and the second I disabled it, my latency went in the GREEN... Then, upon further testing of my sound, the crackling was nothing more than a slight tick here and there... I'm going to continue trying to pinpoint other devices to get it all the way to almost nothing, but I am one happy person after doing this, and hopefully you will be too...

-JeDi

 

[dahpissah]

Hi all. I had the same problem with crackling audio, and I couldn't figure it out. I had done a clean install, and it went all crackly. By chance, I checked processes that were running at the time, and found a process for Intel Matrix Storage Technology running in the background. I uninstalled Intel Matrix Storage Technology, installed the most recent version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology, and the problem disappeared. It may be a fluke, but I hope it helps someone.

Thank you very much!!!!! I thought I tried everything to get rid of the cracking sounds and nothing worked until this! I went into "programs & features" and saw that I had both Matrix Storage Technology & Intel Rapid Storage Technology installed so I uninstalled the first one and it seems to be working fine. I thought I was gonna have to reinstall windows. Thanks again

 

[dahpissah]

Just had this problem again after I had to reinstall Windows. Thank god I remembered this thread!